'NOW having gained Life's gain, how hold it fast? The harder task! because the world is still The world, and days creep slow, and wear the will, And custom, gendering in the heart's blind waste, Brings forth a winged mist, which with no haste Upcircling the steep air, and charged with ill, Blots all our shining heights adorable, And leaves slain Faith, slain Hope, slain Love the last.' O shallow lore of life! He who hath won Life's gain doth hold nought fast, who could hold all, Holden himself of strong, immortal Powers. The stars accept him; for his sake the Sun Has sworn in heaven an oath memorial; Around his feet stoop the obsequious Hours. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TRANSPOSITIONS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON CHARLES CARVILLE'S EYES by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON OH YOU ARE COMING by SARA TEASDALE ROCK ME TO SLEEP by ELIZABETH AKERS ALLEN VERSES WRITTEN IN AN ALBUM OF A LADY'S COMMON-PLACE BOOK by THOMAS MOORE SILEX SCINTIALLANS: THEY ARE ALL GONE by HENRY VAUGHAN |